There are about a million reasons I should not like Mickey Avalon. He is perpetually shirtless, he wears more eyeliner than I do and he has a single called My Dick. Oh yeah, and he used to have sex with dudes for money. In spite of the undeniable sleaze-factor, I cant get his songs out of my head and, well, I rather like him. The embodiment of a rags-to-riches hip-hop fairytale, Avalon has managed to garner the attention of the music press, a bunch of young fans looking to get down and of course, a crapload of teenage girls. In between sound checks and after-parties, I got him on the phone shortly before his Lollapalooza gig.

Riley St. Clair: Are you excited to be playing Lollapalooza?

Mickey Avalon: Yeah, Im pretty excited. Im playing things the night before. Im still playing this party that Perry Farrell is dj-ing. So Im kind of excited to meet him.

RS: Thats cool.

MA: Yeah it makes that exciting. I think that Lollapalooza was a cool thing when it got started. Im a big Janes Addiction fan. Itll be cool to meet Perry and stuff, yeah.

RS: Im jealous. I think I went to Lollapalooza in 1996 with like Soundgarden. It was awesome.

MA: It was. From there we actually fly there and then we play that and meet the bus there and take off on our tour. Most of those shows are in the Midwest in bars. Those are going to be fun too but its going to be cool to start it off with Lollapalooza.

RS: Are you going to stick around for any of the other bands that are playing?

MA: I dont know whos playing, but I think were there for the whole day so Ill probably see some people.

RS: So youre playing this Midwest tour. Have you played any of those areas before?

MA: A lot of these areas are actually our last places that we havent been to yet. A lot of them are places that were going back to but, like, we never played St. Louis. Its going to be fun. We just did another tour that was the East Coast and everything and there were a lot of new places there and every show was sold out and it was good. It was fun. So its cool now going new places and having full houses, we used to only have that at home.

RS: The shows that arent LA or New York are still fun? Just as crazy?

MA: Yeah! Just as crazy.

RS: What are you listening to right now?

MA: I listen to a lot of country music and folk music. Right now Im buying weird box sets so Ive got this weird '60s psychedelic stuff. Its pretty cool. I mean, it kind of also depends on if Im writing a lot of songs. Ill listen to people because I like the way they like songs. I got an i-Pod but I never really, I mean I even kind of figured out how to get it to work but never good enough to really have any fun with it. So in the car I listen to classic radio and at home I listen to country, Dolly Parton, and I like Lucinda Williams a lot.

RS: Not too much rap?

MA: I listen to rap. Theres nothing so much out I like now. I grew up on rap and I love it but theres more of the older stuff like Ghetto Boys and Slick Rick. But I dont have any new CDs that Im putting in, any new rap CDs.

RS: Yeah, the radio stuff is not very good.

MA: I guess in the club and stuff, it has its place. I dont want to just jump on the bandwagon pointing out the obvious wrongs but usually when stuff like this happens then theres a backlash, you know. Like when disco got out of control, kind of got real cookie cutter, then heavier rock came to save the day. Id like to see a rock and roll resurgence, like a renaissance.

RS: I think its already happening.

MA: Even with bands like The White Stripes being able to get as far as theyve gone, Id say one of the only bands out there thats still steeped in the blues. Because thats really what it is, its like what your tastes are and the music you grew up on. Right now the music is worse. So if you dont have good stuff to listen to, its going to be hard to make good music. I think I was just lucky enough to grow up with my father, he had a really crazy record collection. I got lucky to grow up on the blues and stuff like that. So I think what I do aint even really that great. Its just better than the stuff thats out there because of the stuff that Im regurgitating.

RS: So how did you ever get into this business? Did you grow up wanting to be a musician? How did this happen?

MA: No, I always kind of rapped to myself. I went to see Beastie Boys, Run DMC play when I was 11-years-old and NWA and a bunch of bands back then and I never really thought it was something I could do. I did like to write stories and poems and stuff when I was a kid and then just form rhymes in my head and then that would be kind of a rhythm. My friends were part of underground scene putting out CDs and I would do a verse or two on their shit.

I got married pretty young and had a baby and moved away to Oregon. I dont know. I didnt know how to play any instruments. I didnt think I was going to be a rapper. I wasnt trying to be. I didnt think that was even possible. I sold weed to make ends meet and to take care of my family and stuff. I got sober for a little bit, I was in AA, and I was helping these guys build a website. My Mom, I stayed with her for a little while to get sober and she made me take this computer class so I learned how to use a computer. I learned some graphic design, whatever, to make a long story short, they put me in the studio and we made one song and then other people heard it. I was fucking around at my friend Simons house and we would just record shit and then Id have to go home to the sober living house and he was going out to clubs and giving the CDs out to people and then basically this guy called me and wanted to get more serious. I just needed some dough. So I was like, he called and said that they wanted to work with me and manage me. I was like, alright, I thought managers gave you money.

RS: [laughs]

MA: Because, like, you know, when you work for a store, the manager is the guy who pays you and stuff. So I was like, Well if I get $1500 a month thatd be cool. They were like, Okay, well do that for three months but youve got to record five songs a month. So, I just recorded a bunch of songs for them and then I just followed my managers lead. Then we just started playing shows and before I knew it, it was just kind of reality and now, I mean its like a fairy tale story except that that wasnt necessarily my dream. Now its remolding my dream. Theres no turning back now, really.

Basically Ive got to just keep doing what Im doing. The next record is almost done and it will get finished when I get home from this tour. Its just a little more of the same but its a little more live oriented just because I wrote the first record before I started performing. Now, Ive been performing so these songs are a, a little bit different, its like things have changed for me and Im traveling and facing new problems but its basically just the next chapter, you know.

RS: I noticed a lot of your lyrics seem to be tongue-in-cheek. Like in So Rich, So Pretty you rap about girls with bulimia and these spoiled, coked-up Paris Hilton types and it seems like theres sort of a disconnect as far as your fans go because all these rich, white, OC kids are crazy about you. Do you think they just dont get it? Do you think that we all kind of like being made fun of sometimes?

MA: A lot of those were in before I even knew there were going to be fans and people I was playing for. I thought the satire in that was pretty blatant. I wasnt really trying to go over anybodys head. You know, some satires you dont even realize it. Like, you know, you could watch half of Spinal Tap before you even realize its not a real band.

RS: [laughs]

MA: I thought this was pretty down the middle. I was also making fun of myself. I mean, by making them the object of my romantic desire, the joke is Im still there; Im still in the room to see this.

RS: Yeah, youre a witness.

MA: I realized that no matter what I said and no matter how many excuses I had I was still there. So theres obviously some sort of allure, you know. But I dont know if its so much over their head, nowadays I mean even things have changed in the last few years since Ive written them. Its like okay now. Its weird. Its like people used to make fun of selling out. Selling out--thats not even a concept anymore. Its like people are trying to sell out in life. Its like fake tits. You know thats almost become a badge of honor as opposed to something to be embarrassed of.

RS: Totally, like its absurd and we just embrace it now.

MA: Yeah, you know, I think theyre laughing at themselves but at the same time theyre like, Yeah, I do throw up and have fake tits. I dont know really. I just laugh. Ive heard it a lot. That songs about me. The same question you asked me. Im like Alright, thats cool. [laughs]

RS: With the more serious stuff, you reference your past a lot and youre definitely not hiding it from anyone. Do you think writing these songs is cathartic or are you just telling your story?

MA: I think it definitely helps to get a lot of stuff out. Like, the next record, a lot of that was written at the same time. So its probably the last of getting that stuff out. Theres no need to keep revisiting, you know, going back to stuff. Its one thing to do a memoir, in a few years revisit a topic for one song or even in the interviews with a lot of the questions about that stuff, its been so long. I mean Ill talk about it.

RS: Do you get sick of interviewers asking about it. Are you afraid of getting pigeonholed?

MA: I figure people are going to say as long as the records are good then it really doesnt matter. If my second and third and fourth records are about good songs about new things and people want to think that Im doing that, and Im not, then fine. But, I mean, theres probably tons of people that think Im a one-trick pony and in a lot of ways I am but theres definitely more to talk about. I thought making a little bit of dough was the last piece of the puzzle for my self enlightenment but theres a whole bunch of new problems, and not business problems. I mean real problems, like life doesnt get perfect.

RS: New problems, right. So, since its SuicideGirls Ive got to ask you about the tattoos. I know youve got one that says Thank You. Who are you thanking and what for?

MA: I think its more gratitude toward all women. I know it kind of seems coarse but at that time I was sober . I hear the word sex addict and that seems kind of weird because sex is good for you if its done right. So I guess I wasnt addicted to sex but having a lot of sex then because I was off drugs. I would go out to breakfast with one person, go out to lunch with another person and then go to dinner with a third person. So I kind of was like a crack head for it.

RS: [laughs]

MA: So, like a lot of the girls were probably the prettiest girls Id had up until then. I mean its kind of juvenile a kind of thank you to all women who were willing to get down with me.

RS: Thats cute. What about Im Sorry?

MA: Thats probably on the flipside of that. That wasnt really directed toward any particular person. I mean at that time I guess there was a lot of stuff going on with my ex-wife and stuff like that. Really at that time it seems like those were probably the only, it seemed like the only words that ever came out of my mouth. Just like a mantra to everybody and when you say it that much it kind of loses meaning. Its just like everything, Im sorry, Im sorry. Stuff like Im sorry I let you down again. So it was kind of a little part of that. Now I mean, Im not really doing anything that Im really sorry about. I mean I havent really changed my life that much but I dont keep anyone around me that has a problem with the things I do to where I have to apologize.

RS: On SuicideGirls all the models and members have their own profile. We have a little questionnaire that people can answer (or not) for their profile. So Im going to ask you some questions from that and it works best if you just answer off the top of your head. Can you humor me for a second?

MA: I can try.

RS: Okay. Five things you cant live without.

MA: Theyre all illegal!

RS: [laughs] We dont care.

MA: Love--not love, flesh. weed, tobacco, pills and my toothbrush.

RS: Im glad you put the toothbrush in there. Heroes?

MA: Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis.

RS: What makes you happy?

MA: Not much these days. I guess simple shit, corny, getting together with my kid, getting together with my friends, getting high.

RS: What makes you sad?

MA: The world.

RS: What gets you hot?

MA: Someone who wants to have a good time.

RS: Most humbling moment?

MA: Fuck, theyre all humbling. I guess probably when my sister died.

RS: Alright, youre working on a new record right now. Are you going to record it after you get back from tour? What can we expect?

MA: Were fucking around, I mean were always fucking around, we dont ever take it too seriously. I think most of the songs are already there. Ill be recording when Im done in October Right now they just need to get to the producer and be remixed and mastered and pick them out and stuff. So Ill go in and force myself to record a bunch more just to see if anything does happen in the eleventh hour and therell probably be a lot of stuff for the third record. But like I said a lot of people are saying, the next record is bigger and better. It isnt really bigger or better, I mean I like it and Ive been playing a lot of the songs out on tour, and testing them out. People like them so I mean the sounds I hear in my head are starting to happen more than the first record so I think its good.